


Just Some Runaways

by Scorpio96



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-10 16:53:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8924785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scorpio96/pseuds/Scorpio96
Summary: *Will be back in June*This is a story about a couple of teens that feel out of place at home so, they run away to find where they belong. Lost souls find other lost souls and even love along the way. Bonds are made and adventure is around every corner.Jason leaves a home that wants him to hide parts of himself and conform to their vision of what perfect is. On the train he meets Danny, an interesting boy with beautiful sad eyes. A 19 year old Courtney has never experienced happiness, but she dreams of it often. When Jason and Danny come into the diner where she works with a map and a loose plan for the future; Courtney wants to be apart of something new. As they travel America to find a home they meet the beautiful, blunt, and troublesome Willam with no home to call her own and a pretty blonde with weird metephors and an fascinating outlook on life, name Katya. They face their fears, find themselves, and form unbreakable bonds as they get into a bit of trouble, have a little fun and live life to the fullest.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was originally submitted to Artificial Queens on tumblr, but I've edited the entire story. The plot is the same the execution is better. I'm taking a break from AQ for a while so, I'll be posting here, rugirlfantasies, and my tumblr blog artificialscorpio.

_**“Sometimes life isn't always meant to be lived in one place. That does not mean we don't appreciate what we had but we cannot cage ourselves to the expectation of others. Sometimes our hearts yearn for something different, for freedom and aren't we suppose to follow our hearts.”** _

_-_

_Run._

_Don't stop running._

_Just run._

_That was the only thing going through Jason’s mind as he made his way down the blacken street, away from the town._

_His legs ached with every step threatening to give out underneath him, but he pushed through the pain. His lungs burned begging him to stop, but he ignored it. His bag grew heavier and heavier in attempt to weigh him down, but he didn’t stop._

_He was so close. Jason knew that on the other side of the giant hill was a land where everyone could be free and happy in their own way._

_As he reached the hill Jason noticed it was steeper than he first perceived it to be, but that didn't stop him. He dug his hands into the wet grass and started to climb. As he climbed the hill it began to grow higher while the grass turned wet and harder to grasp and dig into._

_The noise of the townspeople that chase him grew in volume and Jason glanced down to see the people at the bottom of the hill. They surrounded him as they yelled with pitch forks and torches in hand. Their words weren't coherent, but somehow, he could still feel the impact of their words._

_Suddenly through the loud commotion one person’s voice rose over the rest of the towns people._

_"Jason! Jason!" his mother called. He froze in shock not expecting his mother’s voice to have such an effect on him._

_"Don't you love your mother, Jason? Why are you running away from me? I only want what's best for you."_ _His body stiffened and his stomach started to turn at her words._

_"Don't you hear your mother, son? Come back down here and stop all this foolishness. You can get a job at the factory, marry a nice girl and give us grandbabies."_ _Jason’s father yelled from below._

_He glanced down, to get one last look at his parents and what he saw made his heart skip a beat. The entire town resembled a ghost town, broken down and uninviting. Everything was void of color and life. The towns people resembled rag dolls, moving slow as zombies with black voids for eyes and stitched on smiles, dressed in raggedy 1930s clothing. The scariest part for Jason was that he could see their souls crying out for helped. He could see their souls trapped behind those false smiles; they were dying._

_Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath in attempt to block out his parents’ words that echoed in his ears. He knew that at this point he couldn’t turn around. He refused to stay and become one of them. He didn’t want to live with a mask of false happiness to present to the world, while his soul craved freedom. So, he opened his eyes, took a deep breath and continued to climb. He was almost at the top of the hill._

_As he started to climb again the grass started to disappear underneath his fingers as it turned to mud. Jason fingers ached as he tried to grip into the mud to keep from falling._

_‘No,” he thought, “I can’t fail. I’m right here.”_

_He reached up to grab onto the tuffs of grass that had yet to turn to wet mud. He dug his boots into the mud and clung to the hillside, to steady himself. He pulled himself up bit by bit, scared if he moved too fast that he’ll slip._

_Unexpectedly, calloused fingers wrapped around his ankle, gripped around the bone tightly and tried to pull Jason down. Determined to get to the other side, Jason dug his hands into the mud to try to find a way to keep from being pulled down. Tears began to obscure his vision as grip around his ankle grew painful._

_Jason kicked and yanked his foot around as hard as he could as he tried to shake the hand off him. Another ragdoll townsperson creeped up on the right side of Jason. He glanced down to and yelped in surprise when he saw the second person reach for him. He raised his free leg, knee scraping the rock and kicked down as hard as he could. He kicked the second person in the face which caused them to lose their grip and fall into the crowd. Jason watched as they fell backwards, arms failing on either side of them eyes frowning as, until they crashed onto one of the pitch forks._

_Jason stared for a moment mouth agape as he realized how high the fall was and that, that could have him with a pitch fork through his abdomen. He quickly turned his attention to the man, who still had his ankle. Jason started to slip down as the man continued to pull on his ankle. He dug his fingers further into the mud, his fingers hurt from the effort used to cling to the hillside. In a final attempt to get the man off him before he fell, he used his free leg to kick at the man._

_Jason kicked the man in the face. He didn't let go. Again. The grip around his ankle caused a pain to shoot up his leg. Jason let out a cry and kicked at the man’s wrist. Thunder boomed through the air. He pulled on Jason. Jason hands started to lose their grip._

_Jason’s heart pounded against his ribs as fear pumped through his veins like adrenaline fueling his desperation to get away. Tears started to run down his cheeks as he looked down to see the townsfolk cheering, creepy smiles among their potato-like faces._

_“I can’t go back,” he thought to himself._

_He raised his free leg up as far as he could. Lightening lit up the sky. The man’s stitched-on mouth started to unravel as he smiled up at Jason. Jason slammed his leg down with all the strength he had. Thunder boomed through the air. Rain started to fall. The man started to fall. Jason started to fall._

-

"Hey. Hey! Wake up!" another passenger shook Jason’s shoulder, startling him out of his nightmare.

Jason shot up out of his sleep gasping for air. Sweat dripped down his face and neck, his mind spun at being shocked back into reality. He stared down at the table as he had pulled down as he tried to wrap his head around the nerve-wracking dream.

"Hey, are you alright?" the young man who had woken Jason up stared down at him with bright hazel eyes. Jason nodded his head to indicate that he was fine as he pushed his dark hair back out of his face.

Jason straightened up, arching his back until there was a satisfying crack before he settled back into the seat to relax as he became aware of his surroundings. His heart had yet to slow down from the nightmare that he had just experienced. The nightmare had felt so real it left an unsettling feeling in Jason’s stomach.

"Oh, well that's good," Jason jumped hitting his knee on the table. He was so engrossed in his own mind that he hadn’t realized that the stranger who had woken him, stood in the aisle.

"Oh, shit sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry, I-" the boy started to ramble. Jason looked up at him taking in his appearance. The other was gorgeous with big eyes hazel, full pink lips and short dark hair. Once the boy started to tug at his bottom lip Jason realize that he had been staring at the hazel-eyed boy and had yet to say anything.

"Th-Thanks,” Jason got out, slightly embarrassed that he had been staring at the boy so openly, “Thanks for checking on me. I'm fine,” Jason assured him as he rubbed his sweaty palms against his jeans. Jason’s voice sounded croaky to his own ears and his dry lips scratched against each other after he had spoken. As he reached down beside him to get a water bottle out of his bags, Jason was surprised when the big-eyed boy sat down in the empty seat beside him.

"Yeah, I was sitting over there,” the boy pointed back diagonal at an empty seat, “and I could see that you were, like moving around a lot. I thought you were trying to get comfortable at first or like, maybe nervous. So, when I got up to go to the restroom, I noticed you were sleep,” he continued only pausing to tug at his lip.

“On my way, back -from the restroom- when I was like, well maybe he's having a bad dream, I should probably wake him. I was nervous at first because I didn't want you to be mad at me for waking you up. Plus, I'm not good at, like, talking to cute boys. Good thing I did wake you, I kind of saved your life." The boy rambled on as he explained himself while getting comfortable in the seat beside Jason.

"Oh," was the first thing to leave Jason’s mouth as he stared at the boy beside him. “Thank you,” he says unsure of what the boy wanted. He closes the water bottle before turning to look out the window. He watched the trees past the window in a blur as he tried to remember bits and pieces of his dream as they start to faded away. He tried to replay the dream over in his mind, but he couldn’t conjure up everything that happened.

The boy sitting next to Jason shifted and Jason glance at him to find those hazel eyes staring at back at him before quickly shifting down.

"Glad you woke me up when you did, the dream was… weird,” Jason nodded. They sat in silence for a few more seconds as those hazel eyes flickered from his lap to Jason. Jason tried to figure out what was up with the guy, Jason thought back to what he said as he sat down beside him, thinking maybe he missed something. He then recalled the boy calling him cute and Jason figured his must of felt awkward because Jason hadn’t complimented him back.

“Uh,” Jason cleared his throat and those hazel orbs stared at Jason as if he was about to say the most important thing that he had ever heard. “You have really nice eyes, and it’s okay to get nervous around cute guys. You’re not bad yourself,” Jason offered with a small smile.

He quickly cursed himself for such a cheesy line, but then the boy’s face turned a bright red and he bit down on his lip, and Jason pressed his lips together to keep from smiling.

"Thank you,” the boy down before looking back to Jason, “So, it _was_ a bad dream?" the boy asked him.

Jason opened his mouth to answer, before closing it as the images of those ragdoll zombie townspeople filled his mind and the terrifying feeling of the dream from the moment he escaped till he was falling to his death creeped back on him. “Yeah, but I’d rather not talk about it,” Jason glanced at the boy hoping that he wasn’t the insistent kind.

"Sorry," the other offered with a grimace. Jason thought for a moment ‘Maybe he knew something about your deepest fears following you to a place that was supposed to give you peace.’

Silence fell between them once again, but this time Jason felt a need to fill it. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk to a stranger, but something about the boy’s demeanor told Jason that he needed a friend, even if it was just for a moment.

‘We're all running from something.’ Jason reminded himself.

"’S not your fault. My name's Jason." he said as he tucked a stray piece of his hair behind his ear.

"Danny," he smiled at Jason eyes crinkling up in the corners and Jason was taken aback by how cute he found Danny to be. He resisted the urge to pull him into a hug and climb into his lap to cuddle up to the other boy.

“How long have you been on the train,” Jason asked out of curiosity.

“I’ve been riding since yesterday. Everyone’s pretty nice, except for some people,” Danny looked around the train before grabbing Jason arm to pull him to lean out into the aisle with him.

“That guy up there. The one with the pink shirt; he’s pretty nice, but he talks a lot I had to pretend to go to the bathroom just to get away from him. And the woman with the dreads she’s nice too, she offered to buy me a meal,” Danny pointed as he talked. “And the woman up there, she got on the stop before yours’ and she’s had a stick up her ass the entire time. She has a baby and when I went to go to the restroom I waved at the baby and she fucking gave me a stink eye, then covered the baby,” Danny rolled his eyes before settling back into his seat.

-

Jason stared out the window watching the world pass by as he listened to the hum of the train and the conversations going on around near him. Danny sat quietly next to him playing a game on his phone. As Jason stared dazed out the window he looked at his reflection staring back at him. The person staring back at him was familiar, but different. His hair was oily and messy. He had dark circle under his eyes and the hair on his chin had started to grow in a bit. He looked older. He tried to tell himself that it wasn’t a bad thing. He didn’t look like the Jason that walked around his house trapped and frustrated, but the Jason that was on to bigger things.

Soon Jason’s mind started to wonder to his parents. He wondered how they feel about his sudden departure and their reaction to it. It couldn’t have been much of a surprise, but he had still failed to give a noticed before he left. The strain on the relationship between Jason and his parents started to become too much to bare. He loved them dearly, but he refused to stay in an environment where he was asked to ignore and hide parts of who he was.

A strange guilt started to form in his chest as he thought about the sadness his parents might have been feeling. He couldn’t imagine their exact pain, but a child leaving because they were unhappy must hold a lot of weight. He closed his eyes to get rid of the guilt filled emotions filling his mind.

‘Don't worry,’ he told himself as he tried to ignore the intrusive thoughts.

‘Don't worry just breathe,’

‘Don't worry just breathe’

"Hey," Danny nudged Jason pulling him from his thoughts. Danny held out a poptart packet for Jason to take. Jason eyes widen in surprise

"Want it?" Danny asked, when Jason hadn’t spoken.

"Yeah! I love poptarts!"

"Shhh." the woman putting her baby to sleep shushed Jason.

Slightly embarrassed Jason gave her an apologetic motion before excitedly unwrapping the poptart. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday, because he wanted to be careful with the way he spent the money before he settled in where ever he was headed.

Jason bit into the poptart and almost moaned when he realized it was strawberry. Strawberry poptarts were his favorite kind.

"Thank you." Jason said around a full mouth.

"No problem," Danny said as he opened his poptarts. "I grabbed the whole box before I left. I also have a bunch of other foods." he said as he pulled down the table from the back of the other seat and grabbed his bag from beside him before sitting it on top of table.

Danny then pulled out two more poptarts, a few granola bars, a pack of ramen noodles, a bag of chips and a couple of fruit snacks. Jason also noticed he also had a bottle of water.

"Wow, your parents really packed you a lot to eat for travel. Where you headed?" Jason asked as he grabbed his water bottle.

"Yeah, well. Well, they didn't pack this for me. I took it and I-I don't know where I'm going. Not yet anyway," Danny spoke while he put the food back into his bag.

"You don't know where you're headed?" Jason asked confusion clear in his voice as he twisted the top back onto the water bottle. Danny nodded in confirmation as he zipped up the bag before putting it on the floor between his legs.

"What do you-" Jason started to ask but the look on Danny’s face when he finally looked at Jason said it all.

"You- you ran away?" Jason whispered, leaning in so no one could hear.

Danny started to speak then he closed his mouth and glanced around as if he was afraid that someone was gonna catch him. Danny fiddle with plastic wrap on the poptart.

Finally, he nodded. "Yeah, but not really. I just left home, you know,” Danny started to explain. “Please don't tell anyone, please." he begged.

A smile made its’ way onto Jason face as he thought about the odds of running into someone in the same situation as himself.

"I wouldn't do that, because isn't there like a runaway code or something?" Jason said as he causally took another bite of the poptart. Danny's brows furrowed in confusion, his nose scrunched up as he looked at Jason before leaning closer to him.

"Wait? Are you!?" Danny started and Jason smiled at him as he swallowed.

"Did you!?" Danny started again and Jason only nodded as he watched Danny put the pieces together.

"Yeah, I'm running away too." Jason confirmed.

Danny’s mouth dropped open smiled so wide, his eyes crinkled shut and his cheeks turned a little red. Then they both burst into a fit of laughter.

Jason screamed as he leaned on Danny who through his head back his on maniac laugh filling the train.

"Fucking party!" Danny yelled as he brought Jason closer to him by the arm.

"Shhhh!" the woman glared at them, cuddling the baby closer to her chest.

They both put their hands over their mouth after apologizing. Their laughter soon started to die down into giggles. Jason rested his head on the table in front of him and Danny mimicked his actions and they smiled at each other.

"The fucking irony,” Jason breathed out once he caught his breath. Danny nodded a huge smile on his face.

"So, like, where are you going?" Danny whispered.

Jason had to refrain from bursting into another fit of laughter at Danny’s question. Shaking his head, he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know," Jason whispered back.

Danny's smile widens even further, "Wanna, wanna like runaway together? I'll share my food." Danny offered and finally for the first time in the last couple of days everything felt alright.

"Of course,"


	2. chapter 1

**_Running away with you makes it feel like everything will be okay._ **

-

"Where are you from?"

"I grew up in Azusa."

"Where's that?"

"California, duh," Danny looked at Jason with wide eyes.

"Oh,”

"Yeah but my family moved to Oregon when I started my senior year of high school. What about you?" Danny continued casually.

"Me?"

"Yeah, where are you from?"

"I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia-"

"Hotlanta!” Danny interrupted and Jason nose scrunched up in distaste at hearing that horrid nickname, that no one who was from Atlanta actually calls it.

"... Nobody says that. Anyway, I grew up right outside of Atlanta. My family moved to Idaho about three years ago."

"What's in Idaho?"

"Potatoes, lots and lots of potatoes."

"Really?"

"Basically."

"So, how old are you?" Jason changed the topic not really wanting to talk about home; or what use to be home.

"18."

"Really?! Me too!"

"Party!"

"Favorite color?"

"Purple. Yours’?"

"That's not how the game works Jason."

"Um, what? Yes, it is. You asked me a question, I answered, then I asked you a question," Jason explained confused and amused at Danny’s sudden rule change.

"Oh. I could really use some pizza right now."

"You just completely ignored my question."

"Wha- oh yeah, I think I really like red."

"Oh, look is that a, a wolf?" Jason pointed out the window to the trees passing by the window.

"W-Where?" Danny asked as he sat up to lean over Jason’s shoulder.

"There,” Jason tried to point to the place he thought he had seen the animal, but the speed of the train left the spot back behind them.

"I don't see what you’re looking at," Danny frowned.

"Well we passed it now," Jason shrugged.

"Fuck. I wanted to see the wolf," Danny pouted sitting back into his seat.

"Don't worry. There'll be plenty. Plus, I'm not even sure if it was a wolf."

"Well what else could it have been?"

"I don't know, a fox, maybe."

"I like foxes."

"Oh."

-

Just a little under three hours until the train would pull into the station at Cheyenne, Wyoming. With his feet propped up on the chair in front of him Jason leaned against Danny-who had his earbuds in- as he stared out the window.

"Hey, Danny,” Jason nudged the other who paused their music to give Jason his undivided attention.

"Yeah?"

"We need to figure out what to do. Are we going to continue riding? Are we going to get off on the next stop?" Jason asked. Jason had enough money to take go anywhere in the country, well not exactly but he had enough to ride until a place sparked his interest or he had to get off. He had enough money to take him far away from home. Jason had saved up around four thousand dollars from working during the summers.

But now that he had to take Danny into consideration.

"I don't know, we can like stop and get a hotel room, explore the town." Danny suggested. Jason nodded as he thought about Danny’s answers. Jason wasn't sure if he wanted to waste money on a hotel, and he wasn’t that far from home.

“Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you bring any money or... just food?" Jason asked hesitantly. He wasn’t completely on board with splitting all his money between two of them. He liked Danny enough, but Jason was the type of person that wanted to be secure. The thought of spending his money recklessly only to find himself somewhere stranded wasn’t exactly a situation Jason wanted to find himself in.

"Fuck off! Off course I grabbed some cash. I had like $500 left over from graduation money and I took some money off my parents before I left," Danny rolled his eyes.

"So, do you want to get off?"

"Where's the next stop?" Danny asked eyebrows furrowed.

"Cheyenne, Wyoming," Jason said as he looked at the stops on the train schedule.

"Oh, fuck no, let's keep riding. I don't even know where Wyoming is," Danny shook his head causing Jason to laugh.

"Okay, okay,” Jason nodded as his laughter dispersed into small giggles, “Well, when we stop in Cheyenne there's like a two-hour break before the train gets moving again. We can get something to eat and figure out where we want to get off at because they're not going to let us ride forever," Jason told Danny, who nodded in agreement.

-

Danny and Jason fell into a comfortable silence as they ate a couple of snacks from Danny’s stash and listened to music; Jason’s head rested on Danny’s shoulder. The scenery that quickly passed the train window held Jason in daze as he got lost in his own thoughts once again. In the back of Jason’s mind fear stirred around in attempt to plant doubt into his mind. A part of him felt guilty for leaving home and another part feared how this would affect his relationship with his parents.

Jason closed his eyes as he tried to not focus on those thoughts that were nothing, but a burden on his conscious. He reveled in the idea of his future and his new companion. Jason didn’t think about it when he had decided he wanted to leave home, but traveling with someone else could have more pros than traveling alone. Jason found Danny’s presence comforting and grounding; the short haired boy made everything seem all the more real.

"Hey Danny, what did you bring with you?" Jason broke the silence as he popped a gummy into his mouth.

"I packed an entire suitcase. I grabbed some clothes, underwear, another pair of shoes, a couple of shirts, some bathroom stuff, my computer and charger. A blanket..." Danny trailed off. Jason nodded slightly as he listened to Danny finding his random pauses and drag of certain words enduring.

"What did you grab?" Danny asked

"Just about the same except I didn't bring any electronics, just my two notebooks," Jason told him.

"Why do you have notebooks?" Danny moved to look at Jason; forcing the Jason to sit up.

"One to write in and one to draw in. I’m an artist," Jason spoke as he moved to sit with his back against the window to face Danny.

"You write?"

"Yeah, I write stories and I write poetry that I think sounds... poetic." Jason shrugged and leaned his head back against the window.

"That's fucking cool. I'm not really good at anything, well except being a fucking mess," Danny let out a dry laugh. He looked away from Jason, fiddling with his phone.

In that moment, Jason felt something that he couldn’t exactly put into words: an urge to wrap Danny in his arms and hold him so tight that he would squeeze out all of Danny’s hateful thoughts and insecurities. Jason wanted to hold Danny until he no longer could hear the harsh words that circled his mind. But they just met and Jason didn’t want to make things weird so, he decided that words could mean just as much.

"You haven't tried everything in the world, have you?" Jason joked nudging Danny’s leg with his foot.

"No, but-"

"Stop, you're probably super talented. You just need to find something that sparks your interest. You know, do something that when everything else seems to be falling apart it can calm you down or make you happy. Something that you can lose yourself in, where it doesn't matter if you’re the best," Danny tugged on his bottom lip, avoiding eye contact with Jason.

"You're right. Maybe I can find something that gives me... reason."

"Yeah, I left home hoping that the world would inspire me. Open my mind. I want to explore and fill up pages upon of pages of adventures and characters, that people fall in love with. I want to write poems that express exactly how someone feels or want to say. Maybe, eventually make a living out of it," Jason said while picking at the fabric on his jeans.

"Maybe one day you could write about me." Danny joked, then flashed Jason a smile, but his eyes still held a deep sadness.

"If you inspire me enough I might, " Jason chuckled. There was a moment of silence between them and Jason wanted to change the topic; then he remembered that he also had something else packed. "Oh, and I also packed..." Jason said reaching down to grab his bag from underneath the seat.

"What, what you looking for?" Danny asked leaning over to look in Jason’s bag.

"These," Jason pulled out his mace and a taser to show Danny.

"What, I, oh my gosh. Like, like the universe wanted us to be together. I brought my switch blade," Danny tripped over his words.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm from Azusa. So, I have one in case I need to cut a bitch," Jason let out a small laugh as he put his things back into his bag.

"I'm so glad I woke you up from your nightmare," Danny said and Jason could only smile.

-

Jason ran as fast as he could a McDonald's bag in one hand, Danny's wrist in the other tugging him along. Danny and Jason had decided to walk around a bit to stretch their legs, get some fresh air and food; when the train stopped in Cheyenne. They had planned to get back to the train early enough so no one would take their seats, but they got wrapped up in conversation as they walked around, time slipped past them.

Once they reach the re-boarding line, there are only a few people in front of them. The ticket inspector that checked the re-boarding tickets glared at the pair once they stopped just behind a family.

"Shit," Danny wheezed taking in deep breaths "I should have never skipped gym class," he said as he threw his head back. Jason only nodded, too focused on steadying his own breathing.

"Ticket." the man looked at the boys with bored eyes a hand held out. Jason dug into his pocket pulling out the ticket to hand to the man, who checked it then past it back. Jason step up onto the train and turned in the doorway to wait for Danny; his brown eyes grew wide in fear as he watched Danny rummage around in his pockets.

"Danny..."

"I, I don't know where I put it. It was in my pocket," Danny said shifting his McDonald’s bag from hand to hand to dig in his hoodie and pants pockets again.

"No ticket you can't re-board."


	3. chapter 2

**“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” – Henry David Thoreau**

**-**

"Wait, what? He has to re-board he bought a ticket and..."

"No ticket, no entry," the man glared at Jason, his tone bored but his eyes harsh.

"But- but, I-I-I was already on the train. We just, we went to go get food, see," Danny stammered trying to explain to the uniformed man.

"Listen kid. That's not my problem. You can go buy another ticket if you want. We leave in twenty, but I cannot let you re-board without one."

"What if we can prove he was already on here? Like, maybe ask a stewardess or someone to say that they saw him,” Jason asked.

"That's not how it-"

"Oh, Danny's stuff is still on here. Danny is your ticket in your bag?" Jason asked Danny who had tears forming in his eyes as his face slowly turned red.

"Yeah, go check," Danny nodded frantically tugging on his bottom lip, his other hand gripping the McDonald's bag tightly.

"Wait here sir," Jason said before he turned around, not even making sure that the inspector agreed.

Jason ran back to their seats. He threw his McDonald's bag into his chair by the window and grabbed Danny's carry-on from the overhead to look through it, in hopes to find Danny’s ticket. But as Jason searched through the bag he grew panicky, when he didn’t see it.

Frustrated with shuffling through the mess Jason turned the bag upside down and dumped all the contents onto Danny’s seat. But there was no ticket.

Jason ran a hand through his dark locks in frustration. A couple of people were turned around in their seats and stretching their necks in curiosity as they watched him. Too lost in his thoughts to notice or care about the audience that stared he let out a sound between a groan and scream. He only focused on the possibility that Danny might not be able to get back on the train. Jason knew that if Danny had dropped his ticket in McDonald’s or on the walk back to the station, that he was fucked.

Maybe Jason was overreacting, but they had already planned to travel together and Jason did not want to travel on his own now; or get stuck in Wyoming which was not far away enough from home yet. Especially not after the bond he had already started to build with Danny. So, Jason made a rash decision and reached up to grab his bag, he dug through it until he found the t-shirt wrapped around his notebooks. He grabbed $200 bucks from between the pages, in hope that it would be enough for Danny to purchase a last-minute ticket.

After wrapping his notebook back up and stuffing it in the bottom of his bag he ran back to the exit. Danny’s face was red as he rubbed at his eyes to keep the tears from spilling. The inspector stood off to the side, a cigarette between his lips ignoring Danny’s panicked state.

"Di-did you find it?" Danny asked, hopeful.

"No, no but, don't cry. Stop crying. Here, two hundred dollars, go buy you a new ticket," Jason said as he held out the money for him to take.

"Less than 15 minutes," the man calls out after he blows a puff of smoke into the air. Danny had yet to take the money from Jason’s outstretch hand.

"Danny here," Jason climb down the steps and waved the money in front of Danny’s face.

"But-"

"Danny! Take the money and go buy a fucking ticket!" Jason yelled at Danny who jumped at Jason’s explosion, but took the money anyway. Danny tried to hand Jason his McDonald’s bag, but he let it go before Jason could get a grip on it and the bag hit the ground instead.

"Oh fuck, Jas-"

"Danny go buy your fucking ticket," Jason snapped at Danny who ran off in the direction of the ticket machine, to avoid getting left and possibly angering Jason further.

Jason bent down to pick up Danny’s dropped bag. As he bent down Jason rested his head in his arms as he took slow breaths to calm himself. Once calmed Jason picked up the bag and opened it to make sure that none of Danny’s food hadn’t wasted. He froze in place when he looked in the bag to see Danny’s ticket bent up and covered in grease stains. Jason grabbed Danny's ticket, rushed over to the inspector who was stubbing out his cigarette.

"Sir, sir, his ticket it's right here," Jason yelled in the man’s face. The man nose scrunched up as he took a step back from the excited brunette.

"Look he had put his ticket in his McDonald's bag. So, he can re-board," Jason waved the ticket in the man's face.

Annoyed with the young man, the inspector snatched the ticket from Jason’s hand and looked at it.

"Where's your ticket?" he asked eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Uh, here. Right here," Jason fumbled as he pulled the ticket from his pocket.

"Okay, well you might want to get your friend the doors are closing in a few minutes," he said as he handed the ticket back to Jason, who quickly ran off to get Danny.

-

" _Have you been looking at colleges son," Jason’s father asked as he grabbed a beer from the fridge._

_"Uh... yeah,” Jason hesitated, while he unscrewed the top to the peanut butter._

_"What was with the 'uhhhhhh'?" his father chuckled dark brows raised._

_"Well, I've been looking at colleges, like you asked me to,” Jason paused, getting a knife to spread the peanut butter._

_"And, have you seen any you like?" his father prompted as he put the can to his lips._

_"I mean. No, not really,” Jason humped his shoulders._

_Jason was unsure of how to tell his parents that he didn't want to go to college. Jason’s senior year started in a couple of weeks and his parents had been pressuring him to apply to schools before it got too late. But he unlike most teenagers his age, he wasn’t looking forward to it. He’s tried talking to his parents, but they were stubborn and refused to listen to anything other than Jason finding a college that he wants to go to._

_"Well, that's okay. Just keep looking. You have a little time before it's time to start applying," his dad patted him on the shoulder before he headed out of the kitchen._

_"I don't want to go to college," Jason blurted out. He dropped the peanut butter smeared bread and knife on the counter in shock and realization of his own actions. His father stopped in the doorway, his shoulders tense and Jason stared at his father’s back awaiting his reaction._

_"Jason,” his father slowly turned around._

_A mix of emotions flicker through those brown eyes like Jason’s as he stared at his son._

_"Jason,” he started his voice strained against the anger he tried to keep from emitting, “You don’t have the option of not going to college. I hope you don't expect to live here, until you decide when you want to leave."_

_"Well, no. I-"_

_"This is not really a conversation that needs to be had. Get looking at some colleges, and don't worry about money. That's what scholarships and your parents are for," he turned around and walked out of the kitchen._

-

Jason stared out the window as he listened to music on Danny’s phone. Danny lied against Jason fast asleep, his arms wrapped around Jason’s thin waist. The train was dark except for a couple of overhead lights and the moon and stars that kept the train from being engulfed in complete darkness. Jason welcomed the weight of Danny anchoring down as his thoughts drifted off.

He thought of the adventures they could have, the people they would meet and the places they would go. He imagined the feeling of adrenaline running through their veins as they snuck into clubs as guys bought them drinks. Nights in hotel rooms where they planned where to go next, watching movies, eating chicken wings and fries. Traveling to see attractions and landmarks. Visit amusement parks, museums and watch plays. Stop by a beach and play in the water then lie out in the sun. Jason imagined the stories and poems he’d write and those beautiful hazel eyes would no longer hold the sadness that it did.

-

It was around five in the evening when the pair got off the train in McCook, Nebraska. After grabbing their bags, they took a cab to a cheap motel, while they figured out where to go from there.

"I call the shower first."

"Fuck."

-

Jason sighed in contentment as the hot water drummed against his skin. His muscles relaxed under the hot water as he grabbed the shampoo bottle and squeezed a nice glob into it into his hand. As Jason washed away the oil and weight of the past three days, he was finally able to reflect on his conflicting thoughts and feelings of his actions. But mostly he found himself thinking of his last interaction with his parents and how that would be their last memory of each other for now.

_"I don't understand what you're saying, Jason," his dad frowned as he sat his fork down._

_Dinner in the Dardo's house. Never will there be a peaceful dinner._

_"I've told you so many times before. I don't want to go to college. Not now at least."_

_"And we've told you, Jason. We're not allowing you to throw your life away because you want to pursue this dream of living life to the fullest. You can do that in college,” his mom interjected._

_Jason ignored her as he ate his mash potatoes._

_"I don't understand why, you don't understand the opportunity that you have. Millions of people wish they were in the position that you are in. You've gotten into three schools. Three colleges Jason. Three!" his mother held up three fingers for emphasizes._

_"I can count."_

_"Watch your mouth. Now I'm tired of all this back talk from you lately. I've been holding my tongue-" something between a laugh and a scoff left Jason’s lips at his father's words_

_"Listen, just pick a college because you’re going. Isn't it every high schooler dream to go to college. Party. Meet new people. Get away from your parents,” his dad said as he cut into the meatloaf on his plate._

_"That last one sounds really nice right now."_

_"Jason!" his mother shrieked._

_"Sorry. I'm sorry." he quickly apologized, sometimes words slipped past his lips that was meant to stay in his head. No matter how he felt, one thing for sure was that he didn’t want to hurt his parents. He was just tired of having no say or control of his future._

_"It's just that you guys aren't listening. You've never listened and I'm at a point where I'm not going to force you to listen,” Jason tried to explain._

_"Well, we're listening,' his mother said wiping her mouth on a napkin, his dad only nodded._

_Jason took a deep breath and tried to find the right words._

_"I want to live my life... the way I want to," he started._

_"Don't we all," his father's comment received a glare from his mother._

_"I, I just don't want to go to college."_

_"That a foolish choice," Jason ignored him._

_"Like, I can't tell you that I'll never want to go to college. But right now, college is not something that I want to do. I want to travel. I want to experience. I want to take trains and buses and hitch hike to places I've never been to before. I want to meet people that I'll never forget. I want to have adventures and stories to tell for years. I want to lose myself and find myself," Jason rambled on, but it was evident that his words weren’t having the effect on them that he wished. It felt like the day when he came out to them all over again._

_Jason mother looked at his father before taking a deep breath and, "Yeah, honey that's nice and all. But, you can do that in college. What you are doing is throwing away an opportunity for a good life. Do you know how many people wish they went to college? Because now their stuck working jobs that can barely pay their bills or provide for their families. Living from pay check to pay check."_

_"Mom, I-"_

_"We've done so much for you and your sister. We've sacrificed so much to make sure that you had every opportunity we could give you to get you ahead."_

_"And I appreciate it Mom, it's-"_

_"No, you obviously do not understand. We've given you a lot of freedom, Jason. A lot of fucking freedom. And you have the nerve to sit here and say that you need freedom, you need to **live**!"_

_"Mom, you're not-"_

_"No, be quiet because right now I am talking. We accepted you when you told us you were gay. We accepted the fact that you like to dabble in things like makeup and women clothes. Yes, we know about that. We let you stay out late on school nights. Tried to understand when you didn't want to go to family events like your Aunt Margret's wedding. We gave you space Jason!" His mother stood up, fist clenched by her side._

_It was too much. Anger and frustration was the only emotions Jason could comprehend in that moment. They weren't listening; they never did. His mother was always so quick to throw in his face the things that they had done for him, as if Jason was ungrateful and it really hit a nerve this argument. Jason could feel himself become overwhelmed as his mother continued yelling, her words falling on deaf ears. Jason couldn't take it; the way his parents acted as if they deserved an applause for being parents. His father ignored the two as he scrolled through his phone continuing to eat._

_"That's not what it's about!"_

_After the words left Jason’s mouth he realized three things: He had yelled silencing his mother. He had knocked over his chair when he stood up and smashed his peas under his hand. And finally, he had their attention._

_"It's- it's not about being ungrateful for the things you've given me. I appreciate what you've done for me. I appreciate everything. I understand that I have an opportunity that others wish they had. But I can make whatever decisions- good or bad- because it's my life," Jason made sure to keep his voice as calm as possible as he looked back and forth between his parents. His father stood up arms crossed over his chest the anger behind his eyes blazing, his mother’s mouth was twisted ready to yell._

_"I, I don't know how else to explain it to you. I'm suffocating. I-_

 

"Jason! Get out I have to pee!" Danny's knocking on the door brought Jason out of his thoughts.

"I'm in the shower," he ignored Danny as he rinsed the conditioner from his hair.

"Jase, come on you've been in there for forever!" Danny whined from the other side of the door. Jason ignored Danny as he grabbed for the body wash to continue washing up.

"Jason, I'm gonna pee on myself. Get out of the shower!" Danny knocks on the door grew louder. Jason finally decided to let Danny in to avoid getting a noise complaint. "Okay, okay wait a second."

The motel bathroom was small, the toilet and tub only inches from each other. The only sink was the one connect to the kitchen cabinet outside of the restroom. So, all Jason had to do was lean over and unlock the door.

"Come on in." he yelled and Danny burst through the doors already unzipping his pants.

"Oh, my god, your naked!" Danny yelled as stood in front of the toilet.

"Well, I am in the shower,” Jason rolls his eyes and continued to wash up. Jason was far from ashamed of his body; he has a great body and doesn’t mind showing off. As Danny peed- he had to have been holding it for a while- he tried to avoid looking at Jason.

"Close the curtain you whore," he says as he reached for the shower curtain.

"No stop! I like the curtain open. This way I won't be surprised by a serial killer," Jason pushed the curtain back open and glared at Danny.

"But you’re getting water all over the floor and I am trying to piss," He whined.

"I don't care. Leave the curtain open. It's not like it's a bad view anyway," Jason smirked as he continued to rinse off. Danny flushed a bright red, before flushing the toilet and hurrying out the restroom.

-

Danny was in the shower and Jason lied in the bed as he flipped through the channels on the television for the hundredth time. He groaned loudly and settled on watching The Simpsons.

After a few minutes of staring at the television screen, Jason rolled over and grabbed the brochure off the bedside table and looked through it.

_Two medium pizzas and a drink for $14.99._

He sat up when he noticed the pizza coupon in the brochure. Sure, that Danny would be on board to other some pizza too, Jason grabbed a ten from his stash and sat on the bed waiting for Danny to come out.

By the time The Simpsons was going off Danny finally exited the bathroom.

"Took you long enough,” Jason deadpanned as he stared at the screen.

"Oh, fuck all the way off. I'm surprised your smelly ass didn't use up all the hot water," Danny said as he dried his hair with a towel.

"Smelly?!"

"Yeah, you were a bit ripe when I first sat down. I just didn't say anything because you were cute and I wanted a friend," Danny said as he hopped onto the bed beside Jason.

"That must explain why no one wanted to sit beside me. But in my defense, I hadn't showered in two days," Jason scooted over so Danny could get comfortable.

"Look what the hotel staff left us," Jason showed him the coupon.

"Fuck yeah, I'm starving." Danny said excitedly.

"Well let's order. I have $10,"

Danny got off the bed digging around in his bags.

"Cool, I have ten too, I want cinnamon sticks."

"Okay."

Once the order was place Danny grabbed his computer to watch a movie since there was nothing good on tv.

-

Jason should have told Danny that he wasn’t the biggest fan of scary movies, but Danny seemed so eager to watch the movie that Jason didn’t want to put a damper on Danny’s mood.

Jason’s heart beat faster watching the girl on the screen run and hid in a closet. The music playing through the speaker didn’t help his racing pulse, but Jason tried to keep face. The killer stopped right in front of the closet, the light hitting his bloody knife and Jason held his breath when the girl held her’s.

Danny giggled and Jason scooted closer to him.

"No, no, no," Jason whispered to himself a hand gripping Danny's arm. Danny laughed letting Jason squeeze his arm.

"Bitch, grab the bat," Danny spoke out loud as a metal bat was shone in the corner of the closet. Then the killer walked away. Jason let out a breath that he didn't even realize he’d been holding.

Then there a pounding on the door had Jason screaming as he shook Danny his arm still tight in Jason’s grip.

"Ow, Jase," Danny whine trying to pull his arm away from Jason.

"Pizza!" the person outside called before knocking again.

"See, it’s just the pizza man,” Danny said pausing the movie to get the food.

"I wasn't scared. Just… it caught me off guard,” Jason mumbled as he watched Danny laugh and the woman giggle over Jason’s scream. He rolled his eyes, before he got of the bed to grab the pizza. Jason was already biting into a slice when Danny sat down the drink and cinnamon sticks.

"Do we have cups?" Danny asked as he grabbed a slice of pizza.

“Yeah, those plastic cups that come in every hotel room but we need to get some ice.”

-

Jason and Danny crept through the dark motel parking lot to the ice machine. The flickering motel lights outside of motel rooms created a creepy setting that sent chills down the boys’ spine. It was eerily quiet out, except for the sound of cars and truck passing on the highway nearby.

"You hear that?" Danny grabbed Jason’s hand which evoked a yelp from the taller boy.

"God dammit it, Danny! Stop that!" Jason whispered yelled not wanting to wake anyone in their rooms, even though it seemed as if they were the only ones staying at the motel. If it weren’t for the few vehicles in the parking lot the boys would have assumed they were the only residents at the moment.

"But did you hear it?" Danny whispered, his grip tightening around Jason’s hand.

"Shut up," Jason whined, "you’re scaring me," he continued.

The ice machine sat off in an area on the side of the check in office, next to a rundown vending machine and stairs leading to the second floor. The light above flicker and bugs flew around it setting an even darker tone for Jason and Danny.

"Here we go," Jason breathed out a sigh of relief, sitting the bucket under the dispenser. Jason pressed the button, letting out a small scream and jumped at how loud the machine was in comparison to the silence of the night. Danny pressed up against Jason as he looked around. Once the ice bucket filled Jason, started to put the top on it, but his actions stuttered at the sound of a weird noise. The noise resembling the sound of metal scraping against concrete had the boys looking at each other with wide eyes.

Then the light went out.

"Ahh!"

"Run!"

Danny tugged on Jason’s arm as they ran; ice spilling from the bucket as they turned corners trying to make it back to their room as quick as possible.

"Open the door! Open the door!" Jason yelled at Danny once they reached the door.

"Stop yelling at me! Stop yelling! I'm trying!"

Finally, Danny got the door open and they burst through the door. Jason sat the half empty ice bucket next to the television and Danny fell back into the chair beside the door.

"Ahh,” Jason screamed.

"Fuck."

"What the hell!"

They spoke through ragged breathing before simultaneously bursting out into laughter. "Oh... my... fucking... gosh!" Jason said as he sunk down on the floor continuing to laugh. Neither of the boys had stop laughing yet, their own laughter spurring each other on.

"I was so fucking scared Jase!" his eyes widen comedically.

"Bitch! You almost snatch my arm off the way you were dragging me," Jason smiled.

"Bitch, I didn't want to leave you,” Danny said as he slid out of the chair onto the floor next to Jason.


	4. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we meet another lost soul.
> 
> TW- Depression, Domestic Abuse, Family separation, Substance Abuse Mention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update. I meant to update this like two weeks ago, but my computer froze and I lost the work on a couple of chapters of this and of another story and I just couldn't find energy to go back and do it all. 
> 
> But I hope to catch soon.

**_“Someday someone is going to look at you like you are the best thing in the world”_ **

Courtney stared down at the shower floor watching the water and suds mix together, swirling around- dancing before going down the drain. She stood in a daze with the distant thought of knowing she needed to get out of the shower soon. But she ignores that nagging thought, wanting to lose herself in the illusion of safety and comfort that the shower brought her. She reached her hand under the water feeling the drops against her skin before fully stepping under it. She let the water pour over her as she tried to force away all thoughts, only wanting to feel.

Courtney was a sad girl.

There’s no way around it. Most of her life has been filled with disappointment after disappointment to the point where she isn’t sure if she’s ever known what happiness felt like. She dreams of it. As she stands under the shower head, the water beating down on her head running down her face to hide the tears that fell too, she wonders if she was doomed to this life.

At nineteen her life was supposed to be more exciting. She wasn’t supposed to be working double shifts at a diner to keep the lights on and food in the refrigerator. She wasn’t supposed to be taking care of her little brother as her mother got drunk and high; going to the bar bringing home different men in the middle of the night. She wasn’t supposed to be stressed and worn out to the point where she broke down in tears as she showered or laid in bed at night.

Some days it’s not that bad. The good days are the days when she wakes up moves about her day- mechanically. The days where she’s too tired to think or feel and she just goes. The days when she looks at her younger brother Shane and remembers why she keeps going.

-

_ The small blonde sat on the floor staring at her father, tears in her eyes as he held back his. He packed his belonging as Courtney watched on a feeling of something she would later call betrayal coursed through her. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t- wouldn’t take her with him. _

_ She had clung to him tears staining his shirt, begging him not to leave her. Not to leave her all alone. Even as he let the tears fall from his eyes his answer was still, “No. You have to stay here.” _

_ She followed him to the door chest hurting, throat burning, as she watched him with blurry vision as he loaded up his truck with suitcases and boxes. She wanted to scream, run to the truck and pull his things down, but she couldn’t as she stood rooted on the porch unable to do anything as it grew harder to breath the tears running down her face. _

_ The neighbors looked on with a heavy hard as they watch a little girl’s heart break right in front of them. A distraught little girl with red-rimmed eyes, snot leaking from her nose in a too big shirt watching her daddy leave her. _

_ After everything was packed up, he solemnly over back over to Courtney. He tried to find the words to say. The words that would make it all better, but he couldn’t any. Instead he kneeled in front of her wiping away her tears as those big green eyes made everything so much harder. _

_ “Daddy… Daddy pl-please,” she begged. _

_ Finding himself choked up, he pulled his little girl into his arms unable to stop the tears that escaped. _

_ “Please, don’t leave me here with her. Please don’t leave me here with mommy.” _

_ Courtney found herself unable to breathe through the tears, choking on her own emotions as she clung to her father. Her fingers dug into his shirt as he patted her on the back. She begged and cried for her father, but he had already decided. Her mother watched from the window a sneer on her face as she tried to soothe the crying infant in her arms. _

_ Courtney’s father reached up, putting both hands on her face resting his forehead against hers. Then he starts to cry with a force that shakes his huge frame pulling her into his arms again. _

_ “I wanna- I wanna go with you. Daddy I wanna go with you,” she sobbed into his shoulder finding it harder to stop the hurt she felt from passing her lips. They stayed like that for what seemed an eternity to Courtney. They held each other until the tears subsided a bit. _

_ Her father pulled back to look at her a hand on each shoulder. _

_ “Court, I love you so much. So much. And that will never change. But I can’t stay here.” _

_ His words ripped a fresh wave of tears from her. _

_ “Sometimes things in life, doesn’t go as plan. And sometimes life gets so hard you must leave the place you’re in to find a better place for yourself. I wish I could take you with me Court. I really do, but I can’t and it’s killing me.” _

_ “Daddy… pleaseeee,” she begged through trembling lips. _

_ But the look he gave Courtney shattered her heart into a million pieces. _

_ “You won’t understand now, but someday I hope you will. You are a beautiful, brilliant, kind young lady and you’re going to do things greater than you can imagine. I can’t leave here with you thinking that this has anything to do with you, it doesn’t. Your mother and I, we loved each other once or at least had an illusion of what I thought was love, but now we’re no good for each other. I love you so much and it’s breaking my heart to see my baby girl like this, it hurts so much.” _

_ “Then take me with you.” _

_ “I can’t Courtney, but I got something for you,” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a beautiful gold colored neck with a gold globe on it. “As long as you have this no matter where we are in the world we will still have each other.” _

_ Courtney’s legs gave out underneath her as she watched her father drive away. _

_ Then her mother appeared in the doorway, pursed lips, narrowed eyes and holding Shane by his stomach against her side. _

_ “Courtney get up. Your daddy’s gone and he not coming back, if he wanted you he would have taken you. Now get in this damn house before the neighbors call the police.” _

_ Courtney had her heart broken at the age of eight and never seemed to be able to put the pieces back together. _

-

After that day, Courtney’s entire world changed. Her mother’s drinking habit started to spiral downward as she was more intoxicated than she was sober. Courtney soon had to step in and learn to take care of her brother. She would change him, feed him and put him to sleep; while her mother laid passed out drunk on the couch or gone out to the bar.

Some nights she wouldn’t come home and Courtney would wait on the couch ready to call the police if her mother didn’t show before it was time for her to leave for school. Luckily, she never had to. Courtney didn’t think it could get much worse than that, until her mother started bringing the men home.

Courtney always locked her door at night, with Shane by her side she felt safe enough to fall asleep at night. When she finally did get the courage to tell her mother how uncomfortable all the men made her, she was sent to her room with a red mark on her face that turned purple and kept her out of school the next day.

After Courtney’s dad left his mother- Malee started to come around a bit more often. Courtney’s mother and grandmother had a strained relationship and the only reason Courtney’s mother allowed her over was because she took care of Shane.

She didn’t live nearby, the commute being over an hour to get there but she tried to make it every other weekend to take care of her grandchildren. She never talked about Courtney’s father though Courtney assumed that she knew where he had disappeared to. When she had finally gathered up the courage to bring him up, it only left Courtney more disheartened.

“Have you talked to him?” Courtney asked as the pair were sat in the kitchen chopping up peppers and tomatoes. Shane was in front of the television mesmerized by Dora.

“I’m sure he’s thinking about you,” was her grandmother’s reply, so she never asked again.

Eventually, that was ruined too. A thirteen and five-year-old Courtney and Shane had finally gotten to go visit their grandmother for the summer. They spent the whole month of July with her and they had gotten so comfortable with the safety and love that she provided them that Courtney let her guard down. It wasn’t like Malee didn’t know that Courtney’s mother wasn’t the best, she just didn’t know how bad.

One night as the Courtney and Malee sat outside on the porch swing drinking homemade lemonade, Courtney told her about how uncomfortable she was with all the men that her mother would bring home.

If Courtney could go back in time those words would have never passed her lips. She remembers the yelling, the threats, how her grandmother was never let back to their home. She would never forget and her mother also made sure Courtney wouldn’t forget to keep my mouth shut about what she does with a couple of bruises.

She still talks to her grandmother over the phone it’s usually late at night or on her break at the job. After the incident, Malee had mailed Courtney a card with her number in it and a couple of bucks. She did that for a while, mailed them a few dollars a month to make sure that they kept food in the fridge and had new clothes when they need it. Eventually, on Malee’s end the money got thin, but by that time Courtney was old enough to get a job.

-

Courtney stared at her reflection in the mirror, taking in the dark bags under her eyes and her flat blonde hair. After a moment, she grabbed a hair tie pulling her wavy blonde hair into a high pony. Reaching into the jewelry box Shane made her during arts & craft back in third grade, she grabbed her favorite necklace.

With only a little over twenty minutes until she needed to be at work Courtney applied some mascara to her lashes. Grabbing her things, she headed downstairs to fix Shane and herself a nice breakfast and lunch.

Making her way downstairs Courtney caught Shane walking down the hallway still in his pajamas, "Shane, get dress or get left I'm leaving in five."

"Then you'd get in trouble," He yelled after her.

"Don't care!"

In the kitchen stood her mother in all her hangover glory with her new boyfriend Jeff. Most of the guys she brings home are one night stands and it’s rare if Courtney sees them twice. But with Jeff, oh how Courtney hates Jeff, her mother brought him home one night and he never left.

He walks around the house like he owns the place. Leaving beer bottles and his shit everywhere. He pays one bill and suddenly it’s his house and everyone has to do what he says. No one asked for him to pay the bill Courtney could have done it, like she has the past two years.

“Going to work?” Her mother asks running a hand through her red hair as she waits for the water to boil.

“Yeah, but first I’m going to drop Shane off at summer camp,” Courtney answers.

“Summer camp? Who’s paying for a summer?” Jeff butts in his dark piercing eyes staring me down from the kitchen table as I move around the kitchen to start making Shane a lunch.

“No one it’s free courtesy of the church. I need to work as many shifts as possible, so Mrs. Kasha Davis suggested the summer camp.”

Her mom snorts as she turned to pour the hot water into her cup and Jeff walks over to her. Courtney does her best to ignore them as she starts to fix Shane and herself a lunch.

While Courtney continues to fix lunch, she notices that her mother has left the kitchen, leaving her alone with just who was leaned against the counter staring at her.

“Do you need something?” she asked willing her voice not to shake not wanting to allow herself to be intimidated.

“How old are you? 18?” he ignored her question.

“19.”

“Hmm, do you have a boyfriend? I’m sure someone as pretty as you, is sure to catch the eye of a few.”

Courtney bristled, but forced herself to finish Shane’s lunch, “I don’t want a boyfriend.”

“Well, I’m sure a young woman of your age is interested in certain activities. Isn’t that part of being young?”

Courtney’s head snapped up quick enough to give her whiplash, making eye contact with Jeff. A million thoughts ran through her head as he stared back, beady eye gleaming with mischief and a small smirk on his thin lips.

"I'm leaving!" Courtney yelled up to Shane hastily putting his lunch into a brown bag and grabbing two poptarts before turning on her heels and getting out of the kitchen.

"No, Court, wait!" Shane yells his footstep picking up.

"Be in the car by the time I pull off or that's your fault," she yelled walking out the door, closing it loudly for my own amusement.

Courtney climbed into her truck- it was given to her by a sweet older man, Mr. Lou that use to live down the street. She use to go visit him and his wife to help around the house for a bit of cash. They even watched Shane for her once. As Mr. Lou grew older and in no condition to drive he decided Courtney could make good use out of the truck instead of walking half an hour to get to work.

Just as Courtney crank up the truck the passenger throw was snatched opened and Shane hopped into it a bewildered look on his face.

Shane looked like Courtney with light blonde hair and wide eyes, except Courtney had her dad’s nose and sometimes Shane’s eyes looked more blue than green.

"Really!?" Shane yells as he throws his bag into the back seat, starting to put on his shoes.

"Who said you can ride in the front?" she asked pulling on her seatbelt after checking the mirrors.

"Come on Court. I'm eleven. I'm not a kid anymore."

"Back seat, dork."

"Court-"

"Back seat."

Shane grumbles, but climbs into the backseat, kicking Courtney purposefully or by accident she’s not quite sure. Once he’s settled in Courtney throws him his lunch and the poptart.

"Thanks!" he said opening it to inspect the contents and they pull off.

Courtney does a lot of wallowing in her on self-pity, but she often thinks about Shane and how he must feel. They both were in the same predicament except that Courtney knew her father. She prays to whoever is listening that Shane doesn’t cry himself to sleep at night.

She’s the closest thing he has to a mother. While his real mother is not missing, but just not there. Only worried about herself, and whatever guy is giving it to her at the moment.

_ “You're grown. You don't really need me.” Courtney mother says as she leans against the kitchen table getting ready for another night out. _

_ “You're right. I don’t, but what about Shane he's ten.” _

_ “He's fine.” _

_ “No, he's not. He's a kid who still needs his mom.” _

_ “I'm still here! If he needs me he can pick up a fucking phone and call me.” she sneered at Courtney. _

_ “You have a problem!” _

_ SLAP _

"Court! Court!" Shane hands on Courtney shoulders pulled her out of her thoughts and she slammed down on the breaks causing Shane to hit the back of her seat, but she was caught by her seatbelt. She looked around to notice that she was driving past the camp.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" she turned around checking on Shane to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," he swatted her off as he grabbed his things getting out the truck.

"Bye, Shane."

"Bye."

-

"Would that be all?" Courtney asked as she wrote down the man's order.

"That's not all I would like, but that's what's on the menu," the man’s voice dipped an octave lower as he eyed Courtney. Her nose scrunched up in disgust after the older man’s suggestive comment

"Your food will be out shortly, sir,” she glared at him trying keep her tone polite, before turning to walk away.

"Don't take too long cupcake."

Courtney rolled her eyes, as she heads back behind the counter, "Got an order of a double stack with pepper jack, a side of fries and extra pickle," Courtney called to Logan the cook as she pinned the order on the board.

Courtney was grabbing a cup to fix the man’s drink when the bell rung signaling customers. She glanced over her shoulder to see two boys that she’s never seen before. They looked to be around her age, one was tall and thinned framed with long dark wavy hair and the other was slightly shorter with short dark hair and big eyes.

After giving the obnoxious older man his drink she headed over to the unfamiliar faces to take their orders.

Jason and Danny had a map spread across the table as they plotted stops and destinations.  

"Universal Studios!" Danny eyes lit up when Jason mentioned Florida.

"Really? You look more like a Disney World type."

"I mean that would be cool too, but that would be too obvious, I’m not basic. Well, what else in Florida?"

"Whatever you want to tell yourself… and I was thinking Miami, you know beach, sun, hot guys," Jason shrugged as he marked Orlando as a destination.

"Excuse me. Welcome to Mae's are you guys ready to order?" Courtney interjected, both boys looking up at her. Jason folded the map up and sat beside him as Danny looked through the menu trying to decide on what to eat.

"Yeah, what do you recommend. I thought about the waffles with the bacon and eggs. Then I saw the double burger thing with fries," Danny said as she showed Courtney the menu to look on with him.

"Or! Or!"

"Danny," Jason groaned rolling his eyes, for effect even though he wasn’t really irritated, "I'm hungry, can you just order?"

"Fuck off," Danny said before biting his lip to keep away a smile.


End file.
